Polysindo sells stake in Texmaco Perkasa

Polysindo sells stake in Texmaco Perkasa

JAKARTA (JP): PT Polysindo Eka Perkasa, Indonesia's largest
integrated textile manufacturing group, sold its 80.48-percent
stake in PT Texmaco Perkasa Engineering to PT Multikarsa
Investama yesterday for Rp 184.20 billion (US$80.1 million), or
Rp 950 per share.

The publicly-listed company announced after its extraordinary
shareholders meeting in Krawang, West Java, yesterday that the
funds from the divestment would be used to finance its purified
terephthalic acid (PTA) plant currently under construction in
Krawang.

Polysindo's chief executive officer Marimutu Sinivasan said
part of the proceeds from the divestment would also finance the
expansion of Polysindo's polyester chip and fiber production in
Central Java.

Texmaco Perkasa, which is also listed on the Jakarta Stock
Exchange (JSX), is engaged in foundry operations and the
construction of textile machinery.

Texmaco Perkasa's shares closed on the JSX at Rp 900 on
Wednesday.

Multikarsa Investama which also owns 65.7 percent of Polysindo
is the investment vehicle of the Marimutu family.

"The divestment also will benefit Texmaco Perkasa because it
can now operate in a more flexible manner in that the execution
of its business policy will be made more expedient," Marimutu
said.

He said before the divestment Polysindo, as the holding
company, was required to guarantee all of Texmaco Perkasa's
borrowings.

"The problem, though, is that Polysindo, as a publicly listed
company, is obliged to follow certain procedures and to fulfill
several requirements before it can act as a financing guarantor,"
added Marimutu.

Polysindo reported a net profit of Rp 92.83 billion for the
first nine months of this year. The company booked Rp 108.02
billion in net profits last year.

Texmaco Perkasa booked a net earning of Rp 15.45 billion for
the first three quarters of this year and profits of Rp 19.88
billion for last year.(vin)